When All the World Was Looking at You
by mew-tsubaki
Summary: Molly 1/Lucius. Arthur says something to his wife that dredges up a deluge of old, buried memories, memories of a time when there was a chance that it wouldn't be just "Arthur and Molly." Could be considered AU, but fits in with canon. R&R, thanks. ;3


**When All the World Was Looking at You**

A HariPo ficlet

by mew-tsubaki

Disclaimer: These characters belong to J.K. Rowling, not me. Thanks to my rereading **Chamber of Secrets**, I came up with an interesting idea… Read to learn more! XD And review, thanks!

_Note: This chapter contains some _(just a bit)_ dialogue excerpted from __Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets__, dialogue that is verbatim and is of course copyright J.K. Rowling._

- ^-^3

Life could never be quiet when Malfoys were mentioned. Of course, life was rarely quiet when the topic of buying school supplies came up, either. Especially for the Weasleys.

However, Molly Weasley knew that if everyone would just listen, then this trip into Diagon Alley would go smoothly. But that rarely happened. That's why Harry had joined them coming from Borgin and Burkes, of all places! And of course he'd happened to see Draco there with his father.

"Oh, I'd love to get Lucius Malfoy for something…" Arthur was again dreaming he could one-up their old schoolmate.

"You be careful, Arthur," she told her husband. Molly didn't like this subject coming up… But she had to soothe the beast. "That family's trouble. Don't go biting off more than you can chew—"

That had been the wrong thing to say. Arthur drew himself up with an angry look on his face. "So you don't think I'm a match for Lucius Malfoy?"

Molly wanted to say something, but the look he gave her dredged up an old memory that she had almost forgotten after all these years. The glint of recognition in his eyes and the sudden falter of his fury revealed that he recalled that time, too. But Arthur's cheeks flushed and he didn't address the Lucius topic any further. Instead, he introduced himself to Hermione's parents and busied himself exclaiming over how Muggle they were.

The Weasley matriarch got the family through the rest of the day, but she found herself easily distracted. Gilderoy Lockhart? So what? They managed to get all the books for their children? Whoop-dee-do.

That damn memory wouldn't leave Molly alone.

Back in her and Arthur's fifth year, the term began like any other. She and Arthur sat with their fellow Gryffindors, joking around and Arthur trying to impress her further. Of course, Arthur needn't do so; Molly had started dating him two years ago. She was very happy with him and she loved him a lot.

"Oh, hush up," she told him as the Sorting began. "It's always interesting to see who's put where."

Of course, try as she might, Arthur and their friends talked over several names. One of the few Molly caught was "Malfoy," and she glanced a slip of a pale, blonde boy whisk himself away to the Slytherin table. Other than that, there really wasn't much of anything remarkable. It would be next year when Molly's own two younger brothers, Fabian and Gideon, would come to Hogwarts. In the meantime, Molly knew she should enjoy the little bit of time she and Arthur had left; once Fab and Gid came to school, she knew she wouldn't be able to escape them.

As it turned out, they weren't the only ones who wouldn't leave her alone.

Sometime late in the fall, Molly had been walking from class with Arthur when a Slytherin boy came right up to them. He made his presence well-known: He stood right in their way.

"Miss Molly Prewett, correct?" he asked.

Molly flushed as he gentlemanly bowed and kissed her hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Arthur gape. "Er, you are…?"

"Lucius Malfoy," the boy answered, and Molly recalled his Sorting.

"Oh, Malfoy, right… What can I do for you?"

"The Prewetts are a notable pureblood family," he drawled, seemingly sizing up Arthur. "As are the Malfoys."

The witch had a bad feeling at what was coming next. "Uh, Mr. Malfoy…"

"Lucius, please."

"Lucius, you see, my family may be pureblood, but…"

"Then it works out fine," Lucius stated. "Two noteworthy pureblood families, joined together at a later date."

Her mouth hung open. "_What_?"

"You're one of the few good pureblood witches left, Molly," he stated ever so smoothly. He looked her up and down, but he wasn't scrutinizing her as he had Arthur; in fact, it looked like he rather liked what he saw. Molly was a curvy, very pretty redhead, after all. "I hope you'll see that I'm one of the few good pureblood wizards left."

"I-I see…"

Arthur huffed and put a possessive arm around his girlfriend, his blue eyes blazing. "And what am I, a boggart?"

Lucius' grey eyes didn't have an amused light to them. "You're Weasley, aren't you? I hear your whole family is made up of blood-traitors."

Arthur glared at the younger boy, red in the face.

Lucius nodded to Molly. "I'll see you around then, Molly."

Molly and Arthur had watched him go, but it wasn't the last they saw of Lucius Malfoy. He became somewhat of a fan of Molly's, though Arthur began to think of the boy as a competitor.

"He's _eleven_, for Merlin's sake!" Molly reminded Arthur as their O.W.L.s drew near.

"Actually, he just turned twelve. He's one of the older students in his year, did you know that?"

Molly huffed. "He hangs out with that dark girl, Bellatrix Black, did you know that?" she retorted.

"The third year? Ickk," he muttered, caught up in the change of topic. "There's something a little…_off_ about her."

"Hmm," Molly grumbled, sticking her nose back in her Transfiguration notes. "Let's just focus now…"

That summer found Lucius no less persistent. He sent her many letters and Arthur found it hard to deal with it all. It only helped a little bit when he and Molly would go out alone and she reassured him that _he_ was her one-and-only.

Their sixth year and the following summer was much the same. The only difference was that Lucius had grown quite a bit, and even Molly could agree with many of the other witches at school that he was very handsome. He was Arthur's height now, too.

And then it was their seventh year. Molly was both nervous and excited to be completing school. True, she had to pass her N.E.W.T.s, and true, Arthur had to pass his, too… But then they'd be _free_. They'd be Wizarding _adults_. One thing would lead to another…and they'd probably have the life that they'd been dreaming about…

Well. Lucius towered over her now. And…no. It wasn't possible he could've become any handsomer. No. No, no, no. He was just that funny little boy who had it in his head that Molly would come around and become his pureblood bride.

Shyeah, right.

Fabian and Gideon told her right from the start that they didn't like him. "Malfoy's got something off about him," Gideon said.

"I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him," Fabian grumbled.

"Well, that's pretty far, though, considering how skinny the prat is," Gideon added.

Molly could only roll her eyes at this. Typical younger brothers being _sooo_ helpful in such a situation. "You'd think he'd have other witches to bother," she groused.

Arthur nodded. "It isn't just Bellatrix he cavorts around with—there's that Rodolphus Lestrange, too, and his younger brother, Rabastan."

"Y'know, Bella Black's younger sister, Andromeda, is in his year. Why doesn't he turn his eye to her?" Gideon asked.

"Or the youngest Black sister, Narcissa? She's in our year, but she already has half the school charmed like him," Fabian stated. "Perfect match, if you ask me."

"But no one asked you," Lucius stated coolly, coming up behind the twins. He looked to Molly and smiled. "Might I have a bit of your time?"

Molly looked up at him, wondering where he got his poise. She knew Arthur was trying his best not to Hex him right there in the Great Hall despite the teachers watching, but she wondered if maybe her finally doing something for the Malfoy would push him away. So, ignoring Arthur's hurt and her brothers' arguments, the redhead stood and left the Great Hall at Lucius' side.

"You really ought to keep better company, you and your brothers."

She glared. "Arthur Weasley is a fine boy and I love him very much, thank you."

Lucius paused and glanced at her, but then he continued walking. Molly had to take two steps for every one of his because his legs were so long. "You won't give up on him, will you?"

"No, I won't."

"I'm not even worth a try?"

Molly pursed her lips. She didn't consider herself ugly, but she didn't call herself very pretty either; she thought she was rather plain. Lucius obviously only had her lineage in mind. "Lucius, you're misguided. You don't want me."

He came to another halt and she crashed into him. He turned around and brushed her red hair out of her face. "This is why Weasley is not good enough for you. He doesn't make you think you're as beautiful as you are."

Molly frowned. "Stop it. If you want to be friends, then I can understand. But I can't let you go around messing up my relationship. I—oh!" She gasped in surprise when the younger boy kissed her, but she pushed him away. "How…"

Lucius smirked. "Your relationship is messed up without my help." He looked behind her and then turned and left.

With a pounding heart, the witch turned around and saw Arthur's shattered face. She walked to him with her head hanging and grabbed his hand. "C-Come on… Let's go to Gryffindor Tower…"

Arthur didn't need much cajoling. "What was that?" he asked as they wandered the castle's empty halls on their roundabout journey to their dormitories.

"You saw it; he kissed me," she grumbled.

"You let him. You didn't have to wait to push him away, Mol. You could've…I dunno, put your hands up, Jinxed him, or something."

"So it's my fault?"

"No…"

"Then what, Arthur?"

He frowned. "I can't help but feel he was right." He stopped and faced her. "Molly, do you feel beautiful when you're with me?"

Molly stared up into his blue eyes, eyes that matched the color of the dark sky outside in the night. Her brown ones shone back. "Yes, Arthur… Yes, I do."

"So that was a fluke then, right?"

"Right."

Arthur nodded, reassured, and they continued they're walk. It was interrupted, though, when Apollyon Pringle (the Caretaker) caught Arthur and decided to berate him all the way to Dumbledore's office. Molly managed to slip away, though she was chastised to no end by The Fat Lady for returning at four in the morning.

Molly didn't care about the rebuke, however. Because, while Arthur was reassured, she wasn't. She had the horrible, nagging feeling that that kiss was going to resurface, in some way or another.

In a way, it did.

It was like a curse. Ending Hogwarts had to begin something else. What Molly hadn't counted on was her correspondence with Lucius after. It was like the summers before, and yet it wasn't. He seemed even _more_ persistent, if that were possible…and Molly…found she kinda liked the attention. It was different from Arthur's affection; it was very proper and classy and yet wild all at once.

She only promised to meet him once. Really. Really, twice was enough. Three times, and she'd stop. After the seventh, she was done. Yep, after the twelfth, she'd tell him it was really only something platonic between them. Really. Twenty-fourth time and it was goodbye.

…

Who was she kidding? She enjoyed Lucius' attention. Whenever she felt guilty about it, she involuntarily reminded herself that Arthur had other, equally strong interests. But Lucius… Lucius was interested in _her_, and she wasn't sure it was just for her bloodline anymore.

It was during his last year when she knew she had to put a stop to everything.

Lucius had agreed to meet her at a little café somewhere, the name of which neither would remember for the rest of their lives after. He'd arrived with a bouquet of flowers; again, something of which neither knew nor would have remembered the name. He'd sat down, obviously thinking Molly had finally caved.

"I'm pregnant."

His face fell. It wasn't his; it couldn't have been. She'd never engaged him in that kind of activity. Lucius' face morphed into a scowl. "So you finally fell into that trap."

"What trap? I _love_ him, Lucius," Molly stated, pleading with her eyes. She broke into a watery smile. "I actually can't wait to have our first child."

"Then why am I here?" His eyes narrowed.

"Because I would like you to understand, once and for all, that I don't feel anything more for you than I would my brothers." As she said it, she knew it to be true. Once upon a time, Lucius had made her think she was still a girl, but she knew that—with Arthur—she was a woman. She reached across and touched his hand. "Can we still be friends? Please?"

It was possible; his scowl deepened. It deepened so much that the wrinkles formed would never go away following this encounter. he snatched his hand away. "Never. And you call yourself a _pureblood_? You're just like him, a blood-traitor."

He spat the last word out, but Molly didn't stop him. Deep down, she knew that from the first day she'd met him, he never would've changed his mind about the blood wars. But she didn't care; she didn't. She went home and there was Arthur and there he was with the meager but gorgeous ring. Everything would be all right. They'd marry and they'd have William and maybe many more kids to come.

Yes, everything would be all right…

Okay. So maybe it wasn't one single memory. It was more of one memory that triggered the rest. Nowadays, Molly Weasley didn't care a thing for the past. She had a wonderful family and, while life could be a little tight at home, it was more than she could've ever asked for.

So Lucius got his wish. He got his pureblood bride in the form of Narcissa Black. He had the snobby son with the same prejudices as him and his family. His world didn't revolve around Molly anymore. It hadn't for a very long time.

For that, Molly was glad. Because, honestly, Arthur _did_ make her feel like the most beautiful witch alive. Until later that summer when they realized the Ford Anglia was gone and he told her that it was possible it had…_flown_ off.

Then he made her feel like the angriest witch alive.

- ^-^3

**Awww… This was so much fun. I thought this was going to be a lot shorter, but I kept getting stupid little plot bunnies…! And because of that, I have a feeling that I'll write more with them in the future! DX But… But! Young Lucius and young Molly=sooo kyoot! D: Really!**

**Thanks for reading this one-shot! Review, please! Thanks!**

**-mew-tsubaki ;)**

**Thank you for betaing, Morghen! :D Beware, Mor: Loopin's been seen **_**mastacating**_**. ;) XDDD**


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